- Australia
New Zealand is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), which defines intellectual property as "the protection of products, services, and intellectual property to encourage innovation, competition, and the dissemination of knowledge." As Chinese companies continue to accelerate their "going global," more and more Chinese companies need to protect their intellectual property overseas. New Zealand officially joined the Paris Convention in 2007 and the World Intellectual Property Organization Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) in 2008.
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Patent type
1. Invention patent: 20 years from the date of application
2. Design patent: 15 years from the date of application -
Application channels
1. Invention Patent:
① Apply directly
② Paris Convention
③PCT
2. Design Patent:
① Apply directly
② Paris Convention -
Application Language
English
1. Invention Patent
① The Chinese and English names, addresses, postal codes, nationalities, and other information of the applicant and inventor;
② Chinese and English invention names;
③ Description, claims, abstract, accompanying drawings, and abstract drawings;
④ Priority documents (if any);
⑤ Power of attorney.
2. Design Patent
① Applicant and inventor's Chinese and English names/names, addresses and postal codes, country of application, contact person, etc;
⑤ Oath and power of attorney.
② Appearance design pictures or photos: The applicant shall submit product design drawings, three-dimensional drawings (unfolded drawings), and six sided views, and the size scale of the views must be consistent;
③ Brief Description of Exterior Design
④ If priority is required, the acceptance notice and priority proof documents of the prior application must also be provided;
Including formal examination and substantive examination. After submitting the application, the Intellectual Property Office of New Zealand (IPONZ) conducts a formal examination of the patent in terms of format and obvious substantive defects. The invention patent is published 18 months from the date of application/priority.
Anyone can submit a request for substantive examination to IPONZ within 5 years from the application date/priority date. IPONZ generally issues the first examination opinion notice within 6 months, and the authorization procedure must be completed within 12 months of the issuance of the first examination opinion notice. All issues in the examination opinion notice must be resolved within 12 months. If the authorization conditions are met, the patent application will be made public. If there are no objections within 3 months, a patent certificate will be issued. Anyone can make a request to revoke the authorization program. IPONZ does not charge authorization fees, and the average authorization time is 2-3 years.
It is worth noting that New Zealand patents have a 12-month grace period without losing novelty.
After the applicant submits a design patent application, the patent examiner will examine the design. For the issues discovered during the examination, the New Zealand patent examiner will promptly publish them to the public on the official website to eliminate public doubts about the patent examiner. After receiving the notice of examination opinions, the applicant shall submit a response within the prescribed time limit. If the applicant fails to submit a response within the prescribed time limit or the submitted response does not meet the requirements, the application shall be deemed withdrawn.
If the applicant submits a request for substantive examination to the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office in writing, the design patent will not pass the substantive examination. Applicants can meet the authorization requirements of the New Zealand Intellectual Property Office for design patents by requesting substantive examination, but if there are already design patents in other countries at the time of application, the applicant also needs to submit a foreign application or apply based on its domestic priority documents.
The examination period for New Zealand design patents is 18 months from the date of application, and may be extended in case of special circumstances. The review period shall be calculated from the date of entering the announcement procedure, but shall not exceed 30 months. If the applicant submits a design patent application in New Zealand without also submitting any other form of application, the examination period shall be 16 months from the date of application.
It should be noted that the date of filing a design patent application in New Zealand may be later than the date of entering the New Zealand publication process. For example, if the applicant has submitted a design patent application in New Zealand, but their patent has already been published in China, the applicant can submit a New Zealand design patent application after it has been published in China.
